The herbs and vitamins I got have really helped me get over whatever bug it was that attacked me. While my co-workers are still suffering, I’ve found a great deal of relief from using a simple combination of echinacea, mullein, vitamin C, Zinc, and some sublingual B-12 for energy. I mentioned to one of my co-workers that I was taking these things. She stopped. Blinked. Then said, “I have no idea what you just said.”..LOL

I am continuing with extra doses of the mullein combination to combat the bronchitis I’ve got now. I am at least waking up in the mornings now instead of a hundred times a night due to coughing spells! The most difficult thing was just finding the mullein to begin with! I looked at two Walmart stores, Walgreen’s, and another discount store. GNC was closed already by the time I got back into Big Town. Finally, I found it at a small, locally owned pharmacy. It was actually part of a list of ingredients in a bottle of Bronchial Aide tabs. I’d prefer the pure mullein, but you take what you can get when you can’t breathe.

They asked me to come back and tell them how it worked for me. I’ll do that in a couple of days and see if they can order straight mullein tabs or capsules while I’m there.

Technorati Tags: herbs, vitamins, echinacea, mullein

By and large, game meats compare very favorably with domesticated meats. Venison is no exception, being lower in fat and cholesterol than most meats you’ll find in the market. The nutritional information is pretty assuring that you’ve made a good choice when you prepare this for your family.

I like the fact that it’s not pumped full of hormones and antibiotics which may find their way from domesticated meat into our bodies.

It’s extremely difficult these days to avoid food additives. Anything produced commercially is likely to have them, including preservatives.

Preservatives are added to inhibit spoilage or preserve color. This makes the food last longer in storage, on the shelf, and at home. Preservative free foods don’t last as long and must be discarded sooner. While on the surface, this sounds like a good thing to have in your food the preservatives that keep food from spoiling are being put into your body when you eat the food. Some of these preservatives have proved to be dangerous yet instead of being forbidden, they are merely limited.

BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole) was found to cause cancer in laboratory animals when dosed at high rates. Related to BHA is BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene). The jury is still out on this because it’s assumed humans cannot consume the high amount of BHA necessary to develop cancer. Bear in mind, it’s still in your foods such as oils, cereals, and other foods. You have to decide if it’s worth the risk to consume foods that contain BHA.

Sulfites have been show to cause severe reactions in asthmatic persons besides stripping food of its nutrients. Some people may have milder reactions and not seek medical help because they don’t associate it with the food they’ve eaten. Sulfites can be found under various names.

• sulfur dioxide
• sodium sulfite
• sodium and potassium bisulfite
• sodium and potassium metabisulfite

Symptoms of sulfite sensitivity can range from difficulty breathing to stomachache and hives to anaphylactic shock. Read the package labels of foods you buy to try to avoid this additive!

The information I gave you is from an FDA publication. Because the FDA is known to be slow in revising regulations and outlawing things that are bad for us, it’s our responsibility to avoid them if at all possible and maintain our own health guidelines.

Technorati Tags: food additives, preservatives, BHA, cancer, BHT, Sulfites, sulfite sensitivity, FDA

Almost every grocery item you buy has some kind of food additives in it. From dyes to preservatives to thickeners, a person can barely buy any food that hasn’t been treated in some way to make it taste better, last longer, have a certain consistency, or have an expected appearance. Foods are full of artificial flavors when they could be full of the flavors from whatever they’re named for.

Did you realize that Lemon Joy dish washing liquid has real lemon juice in it, but lemon pudding has artificial flavoring? Kind of an upside-down way of doing things, don’t you think?

My sister is allergic to yellow dyes found in hundreds of food items. I’m talking about getting hives, intestinal distress, and even to the point of nearly blocked air passages. In fact, she carries and Epi-pen in case she gets some yellow dye unexpectedly and has a severe reaction. You can read more about that on her Sixty Something blog.

Some foods are colored with annatto or turmeric, which are a much safer alternative and still lend the yellow color that may be desired. Grape skins, beets, saffron, carotene, and other natural color producers are available in abundant supply. However, I have to ask why we demand these colors in the first place?

A home made yellow cake gets its color from the yolks of the eggs put into it. But a boxed yellow cake mix, which calls for whole eggs, has yellow dye in it. Why? It’s absolutely not necessary.

Yellow dye, or any other color, isn’t really needed if the food contains the real ingredients it’s supposed to have anyway. The intensity of the color of foods we cook is naturally far less than in foods that are processed into a veritable rainbow of colors through false means.

If my own sister has this problem with yellow dyes, and we all remember the F,D, & C Red #5 fiasco of a number of years ago, then maybe we consumers should be more demanding and selective in our food choices. You can read more about food dyes at the FDA’s own site, including their findings on the allergic reactions resulting from ingesting yellow dye #5.

Technorati Tags: grocery, food additives, dyes, preservatives, artificial flavors, yellow dyes, annatto, turmeric, F, D, & C Red #5

With the weather beginning to get cool at night, my thoughts begin to turn to beverages such as hot tea and hot chocolate. I have a good variety of herbal teas and I love them with a bit of honey in them. That reminds me, I need to get some clover honey next time shopping!

Generally, in cooler weather, I keep a wicker basket on the table with packets of hot chocolate and herbal tea bags, ready for anyone to use. It’s a simple matter to heat a cup of water in the microwave and have a hot beverage that is more healthful than coffee in just minutes. So, in the interest of supplying a tea cart instead of a healthcare cart, I’ll be sharing some of my favorite hot beverage recipes in the next few posts.

Technorati Tags: beverages, clover honey, hot chocolate, herbal tea, microwave, tea cart

It seems that as Americans, we tend to eat a lot of things that just plain aren’t good for us. Some of those things remain in the body way too long and cause gastric distress. Haven’t you noticed how many people consume antacids and anti-gas medicines repeatedly through the day? Something’s definitely wrong with that picture.

It’s not normal to need those medicines several times a day. A normal digestive system can handle a wide variety of foods. This may mean the foods themselves are the culprit. Perhaps the way they are raised or processed has caused them to be less friendly to our stomachs and lower tracts? I really don’t know, but I’d hate to think everyone needs a colon cleanse just to get right. Yet, that may be exactly what needs to be done - then change what we eat and how our food is raised!

Technorati Tags: gastric distress, antacids, digestive system, foods

Most restaurants, even the McDonald’s where I work, have nutrition information readily available for you these days. We have it on the back of every tray liner so you, the consumer, can wisely choose which meals you would like to eat. You can ask for it at the front counter where you order and we’re glad to give you the information you need.

I’ve found that some folks are a bit put out when we don’t have every variety of low fat salad dressing on the market. Well, there’s a limit as to how much salad dressing we can reasonably keep on hand. However, as the person eating the salad, you do have a choice about how much you use on the salad. For instance, even though the ranch dressing is not low fat, you can use less on your salad and save calories and fat that way.

When I eat salad at work, at home, or at any other restaurant, I always ask for it on the side. Then, instead of putting it on my salad, I actually just dip the tines of my fork into the dressing before each bite. That way, I still get the taste but I use only a smidgen of dressing for a whole salad.

How do you save calories when you eat out?

Technorati Tags: McDonald’s, nutrition information, salad dressing

I’ve known for a long time that avocados are a high fat fruit. I’ve also known that the fat in them is actually good for you, unless you indulge too frequently and in too great quantities so that you wind up gaining weight. However, I really didn’t know about all the other benefits of the avocado until I looked at avocado nutrition facts.

I’m happy to report that not only do they have “good fat” in them, they are rich in other nutrients as well. I think, next shopping go-round, I’ll pick up a few and try them Annabella’s way - peeled, sliced, with salt and pepper. I’m always game for trying things that are new to me.

Technorati Tags: avocado, nutrients

Well, my herbs didn’t just die. They were murdered. We got an influx of grasshoppers and they ate every leaf and sprout on the herbs. They did so much damage that all the plants died completely. This happened overnight and the plants simply can’t recover this late in the season.

I’m very aggravated and disappointed since I love using fresh herbs while they’re growing and home grown dried herbs in the off-season. Now, I have neither to use.

This is a time when I do wish I had a greenhouse so I could protect what I grow and control the environment a little better.

Technorati Tags: herbs, grasshoppers, plants, greenhouse

I related in an earlier post that I get the occasional bout with bronchitis. Most recently it was the result of an actual cold or some kind of bug that attacked me. But I don’t have to get a respiratory infection to wind up with bronchitis. I’ve had problems with it for years.

The big problem comes with being my age, having had 5 children, and being post-menopausal. Bronchitis and the resultant coughing can cause a person to spring a little leak. That’s why I take mullein - to open my bronchial tubes and help to not cough. However, if this keeps up I’ll either need surgery or disposable underwear to keep from embarrassing myself.

Do you know anyone who’s had surgery to improve continence? How did it go? Did it work like they thought it would?

Technorati Tags: bronchitis, post-menopausal, mullein